Victory For Bees!

If you’re an organic gardener, then you know pesticides are a bad thing. They are not only harmful to humans, but all living creatures and our ecosystems as well.

Good news, at least for Europeans. The majority of EU countries have recently supported the European Commission’s proposal to temporarily ban the use of three pesticides harmful to bees. Bayer and Syngenta are two of the companies that produce these pesticides used to coat the seeds, add to the soil, or sprayed on plants.

One of the pesticides, neonicotiniod is based on nicotine. It’s coated on the seeds and infused through the plants as they grow (much like nicotine infiltrates a smoker’s lungs). It’s very effective against harmful insects, but what are the effects on humans?

According to a CBS news report, in the last eight years the bee population has been in a steady decline due to these pesticides. They become disorientated and can’t find their way back to their hives, therefore, dying in the fields. Bees are a farmer’s best pollinating friend. Without bees, the agriculture industry estimates 1/3 of the food we eat would disappear.

The EPA is looking into this, but as all things relating to the U.S. federal government, it should be about five years before they make any decisions about the future of pesticide usage nationwide.